Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the third
day of January, two thousand and twelve

S. 1959

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED
STATES

AN ACT

To require a report on the designation of
the Haqqani Network as a foreign terrorist organization and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the
Haqqani Network Terrorist Designation
Act of 2012.

2.

Report on designation of the Haqqani
Network as a foreign terrorist organization

(a)

Findings

Congress makes the following
findings:

(1)

A report of the Congressional Research
Service on relations between the United States and Pakistan states that
[t]he terrorist network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son
Sirajuddin, based in the FATA, is commonly identified as the most dangerous of
Afghan insurgent groups battling U.S.-led forces in eastern
Afghanistan.

(2)

The report further states that, in
mid-2011, the Haqqanis undertook several high-visibility attacks in
Afghanistan. First, a late June assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul
by 8 Haqqani gunmen and suicide bombers left 18 people dead. Then, on September
10, a truck bomb attack on a United States military base by Haqqani fighters in
the Wardak province injured 77 United States troops and killed 5 Afghans. A
September 13 attack on the United States Embassy compound in Kabul involved an
assault that sparked a 20-hour-long gun battle and left 16 Afghans dead, 5
police officers and at least 6 children among them.

(3)

The report further states that U.S.
and Afghan officials concluded the Embassy attackers were members of the
Haqqani network .

(4)

In September 22, 2011, testimony before the
Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff Admiral Mullen stated that [t]he Haqqani network, for one, acts as
a veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency. With ISI
support, Haqqani operatives plan and conducted that [September 13] truck bomb
attack, as well as the assault on our embassy. We also have credible evidence
they were behind the June 28th attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul
and a host of other smaller but effective operations.

(5)

In October 27, 2011, testimony before the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton stated that “we are taking action to target the Haqqani
leadership on both sides of the border. We’re increasing international efforts
to squeeze them operationally and financially. We are already working with the
Pakistanis to target those who are behind a lot of the attacks against Afghans
and Americans. And I made it very clear to the Pakistanis that the attack on
our embassy was an outrage and the attack on our forward operating base that
injured 77 of our soldiers was a similar outrage.”.

(6)

At the same hearing, Secretary of State
Clinton further stated that I think everyone agrees that the Haqqani
Network has safe havens inside Pakistan; that those safe havens give them a
place to plan and direct operations that kill Afghans and
Americans..

(7)

On November 1, 2011, the United States
Government added Haji Mali Kahn to a list of specially designated global
terrorists under Executive Order 13224. The Department of State described Khan
as a Haqqani Network commander who has overseen hundreds of
fighters, and has instructed his subordinates to conduct terrorist
acts. The designation continued, Mali Khan has provided support
and logistics to the Haqqani Network, and has been involved in the planning and
execution of attacks in Afghanistan against civilians, coalition forces, and
Afghan police. According to Jason Blazakis, the chief of the Terrorist
Designations Unit of the Department of State, Khan also has links to
al-Qaeda.

(8)

Five other top Haqqani Network leaders have
been placed on the list of specially designated global terrorists under
Executive Order 13224 since 2008, and three of them have been so placed in the
last year. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the overall leader of the Haqqani Network as
well as the leader of the Taliban's Mira shah Regional Military Shura, was
designated by the Secretary of State as a terrorist in March 2008, and in March
2009, the Secretary of State put out a bounty of $5,000,000 for information
leading to his capture. The other four individuals so designated are Nasiruddin
Haqqani, Khalil al Rahman Haqqani, Badruddin Haqqani, and Mullah Sangeen
Zadran.

(b)

Sense of Congress

It is the sense of Congress that—

(1)

the Haqqani Network meets the criteria for
designation as a foreign terrorist organization as set forth in section 219 of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); and

(2)

the Secretary of State should so designate
the Haqqani Network as a foreign terrorist organization under such section
219.

(c)

Report

(1)

Report required

Not later than 30 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the
appropriate committees of Congress—

(A)

a detailed report on whether the Haqqani
Network meets the criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization
as set forth in section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1189); and

(B)

if the Secretary determines that the
Haqqani Network does not meet the criteria set forth under such section 219, a
detailed justification as to which criteria have not been met.

(2)

Form

The report required by paragraph (1) shall
be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.

(3)

Appropriate committees of Congress
defined

In this subsection,
the term appropriate committees of Congress means—

(A)

the Committee on Armed Services, the
Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Select
Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and

(B)

the Committee on Armed Services, the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.

(d)

Construction

Nothing in this Act may be construed to
infringe upon the sovereignty of Pakistan to combat militant or terrorist
groups operating inside the boundaries of Pakistan.